The Captain America Project is winding down, and the 19th spot on this jam page was filled during the 2014 New York Comic Con by one of my favorite artists, Bob McLeod.

I’ve been a fan of his work since Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (The New Mutants) and in addition to his pencils and inks on Marvel and DC titles like The Amazing Spider-Man and Action Comics, his art in The Uncanny X-Men #152 (and that issue’s fantastic cover) still stands out as a favorite of mine in the middle of Dave Cockrum’s second run on the title back in 1981.

So there’s one spot left on the page, and I have one particular artist in mind for the 20th spot. It’s been over four years since I started The Captain America Project, and I’m looking forward to finally completing it this year. I’m going to attend three New York based comic conventions in the next several months, so hopefully I’ll have the final spot filled by then and I can finally have this amazing page framed and on my wall.

One of my goals at the 2014 New York Comic Con was to wrap up the Captain America project. With three spots left on the page, I had made my list of final “must have” artists to complete it. My first stop at NYCC that Sunday morning was Lee Weeks’ table.

I’ve been a fan of Lee’s work for years and really enjoyed his three issue run on Daredevil: Dark Nights (#1-3). He did a great job on this Cap sketch, and it’s a fantastic addition to the page.

Since the first show in 2006, the New York Comic Con is the comic book related event that I look forward to the most each year. I still can’t believe that only eight years ago it started as a one room event that took up a fraction of the Jacob Javits Center. And while I tend to complain about the crowds in the exhibit hall each year, I am very happy that the show has grown in popularity into one of the premiere comic book conventions with an attendance (over 151,000 attendees) that has now surpassed the San Diego Comic Con.

I’ll admit I don’t take as full advantage of the show as most of the attendees do. I don’t cosplay (though I am tempted to break out the stormtrooper armor each year), and I avoid the larger panels for the less crowded sessions, but that’s because I choose to maximize my time in Artist Alley to meet the creators that have written and drawn my favorite stories of the last four decades. This year was no different but that was because I had less time at NYCC than previous years. My faithful sidekick and I had set up a two week vacation in Arizona and New Mexico that overlapped the first three days of NYCC and I didn’t think I would be able to attend this year. But when I found out we were flying the red eye from Albuquerque to JFK I knew that I could make the last day of the show.

While I may have missed New York Super Week and the first three days of NYCC, I made up for it by buying some comic related merchandise during our stop in Albuquerque. First stop was the amazing Astro-Zombies comic shop where I got a great deal on copies of X-Men #90 and Fantastic Four #92. I also found Days of FuturePast HeroClix that sold out at my New York comic and game shops (Storm, Blob, Pyro and a Sentinel!). If you’re ever in Albuquerque, I highly recommend a visit to Astro-Zombies. They have a great selection of new and back issues and a friendly staff. I also picked up a few Marvel Comics themed wall decorations at a local art store on sale. Buying these items that I would have picked up at NYCC softened the blow of not attending the first three days (and probably saved me a few bucks!). Heck, even the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta had a con feel with a huge crowd and members of the local chapter of the 501st Legion in attendance as the Darth Vader and Yoda hot air balloons ascended!

But no sooner than I had gotten home from JFK Sunday morning, I was pulling together every book I wanted autographed, my sketch book for commissions, and of course The Captain America Project to (hopefully) complete. I arrived at the Javits Center around 9:15 that morning, and I was surprised to not see a crowd gathered in front. But reality soon set in when I realized the thousands of attendees were lined up in the lower level of the convention center prior to the 10:00 start time. Overall it was a good system, and even though I was towards the back of the line I made it into Artist Alley by about 10:15. Thankfully most of the attendees were heading to the exhibit hall and Artist Alley was practically empty when I walked in.

My top priority at NYCC was completing the Captain America Project: a jam page of 20 drawings of Captain America by 20 different artists. After four years, 17 of the 20 spots on my Captain America jam page had been filled by artists like Jim Lee, David Finch, Herb Trimpe and even Golden Age artist Allen Bellman. I had put a lot of thought into which artists I wanted to finish the page, and even though there were more artists to choose from than spots available on the page, I decided they would be filled by three of my favorite artists of the last 30 years. My first two stops were Lee Weeks’ and Bob McLeod’s tables.

Weeks’ art has been a favorite of mine over the last ten years, most recently his work on Daredevil: Dark Nights #1-3, and I’ve been a huge fan of Bob McLeod’s work since the early 80’s, particularly his run on The New Mutants. So as long time fans of their work, they were “must haves” on The Captain America Project. I had originally planned on posting scans of their Cap sketches in this post, but then I realized they would be major spoilers of their individual posts for The Captain America Project, so I decided to hold off. But in the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of them sketching on the page:

Unfortunately, the third artist that I was hoping would cap off the page (pun intended) wasn’t able to attend Sunday, so I’ll keep that one a surprise until I’m able to get that sketch at a future show.

After collecting autographs from artists Rob Liefeld, Allen Bellman, Howard Chaykin and former Marvel writer/artist/editor Al Milgrom for my copy of Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics, my last stop of the afternoon was The Artists’ Choice table for a sketch from artist Jerry Ordway (Superman). Going into the show, one of the items on my wish list was a full sized sketch of Superman from Ordway, and he didn’t disappoint with this gem:

Superman by Jerry Ordway

Artist Jerry Ordway and his Superman sketch.

I had every intention of staying until the end of the show to hit the exhibit hall and get a few more sketches, but by 3:00 I realized that I hadn’t slept in over 30 hours (maybe that’s a con endurance record?) and it was time to head home before I passed out and the attendees swiped my sketches. But this year’s NYCC was definitely worth the red eye flight and sleep deprivation. Looking forward to next year!

Directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo; Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley; Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

With each major comic themed film that’s been released over the last year, I couldn’t help but think about when the tide would turn and the genre’s popularity might start to wane. But with over $400 million in worldwide box office since it’s April 4th opening weekend, Captain America: The Winter Soldier proves the comic book film is still popular among U.S. and international audiences.

Anyone who knows me knows that Captain America is one of my all time favorite comic book characters (see The Captain America Project in my previous posts), so The Winter Soldier is one of the films I’ve been looking forward to the most this year. The character really is timeless, with each generation of creators since Joe Simon and Jack Kirby creating stories of pure comic book fantasy (The Silver Age Avengers comic books) and weaving issues and events of the last 70 years into storylines to keep Cap relevant over the years (World War II, Communism, distrust of government in the 70’s, the post 9/11 world). During the film’s opening weekend I caught a screening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier with two of my amazing friends (I’ll call them Wonder Woman and Phoenix), and the movie didn’t disappoint.

SPOILERS BELOW

Positives:

Chris Evans as Captain America

Steve Rogers doesn’t lose his soul or his hope for America when Project Insight and Pierce’s true motives are exposed. As a man out of his time with 70 lost years to make up, he retains his ideals and moral compass without being jaded or effected by the modern era. The fish-out-of-water element of his character doesn’t overpower the story, and it’s his introduction to the returned veterans in Sam Wilson’s support group that provides Cap with a sense of familiarity in a complicated world.

The Winter Soldier

I have to admit, when it was first announced this sequel would focus on the return of Bucky Barnes (played by Sebastian Stan) as HYDRA’s walking death machine The Winter Soldier, my first reaction was mixed. Writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting crafted an amazing run with The Winter Soldier in the Captain America comic book, but there was a part of me that was put off by the “resurrection” of Bucky Barnes. In my opinion, Bucky was one of the Marvel characters (along with Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy) that should not have been brought back from the dead. But after seeing the film, I’m sold on bringing Bucky back.

Anthony Mackie as Falcon

Falcon/Sam Wilson brought me back to the Bronze Age Cap/Falcon stories I grew up with, and actor Anthony Mackie was great in the role. Sam Wilson was more than Cap’s wingman (sorry for the pun), he’s a leader that holds his own. His backstory as an Air Force veteran of the War on Terror was the perfect origin for a contemporary Falcon, and his empathy for Steve Rogers as a veteran struggling with a return to normalcy is the backbone of their friendship.

Robert Reford as Alexander Pierce

Going into the film it was Robert Redford’s performance as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Anthony Pierce that I was looking forward to the most. This inspired casting elevated Winter Soldier from a high octane comic book/superhero film to an engaging political thriller. Redford’s portrayal of Pierce and his true motives for Project Insight within S.H.I.E.L.D. was reminiscent of the ambiguous government characters in Alan Pakula’s conspiracy films of the 70’s. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley referenced the classic films Three Days of the Condor and The Parallax View as influences on their story.

Easter Eggs

I won’t name all of them because the fun is in discovering them. But one name dropped in the film got me thinking about the future of Marvel’s films: Stephen Strange. I’ve been saying Doctor Strange was deserving of his own feature film for years. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.

Different tone from Captain America: The First Avenger.

The first film (directed by Joe Johnston) had a look and feel that showed direct inspiration from the pages of the comic books. Winter Soldier had less of this tone, but I felt it was appropriate for this film. To me it was representative of how comic book stories have evolved over the last seventy years. First Avenger was the Golden/Silver Age comic book, but Winter Soldier was the modern age comic book. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is more than a comic book film, it’s an action film/political thriller with comic book characters.

Negatives:

For me, there weren’t any.

When I first read that part of the story was influenced by current events, particularly a government “kill list,” I was concerned the film would be too heavily focused on the idea of government as evil/untrustworthy and possibly insert a sucker punch or two. But I was happy to see the film did not take that route and instead showed the honorable, patriotic members of S.H.I.E.L.D. putting their lives on the line (with many making the ultimate sacrifice) to fight a HYDRA infiltration of their organization. Great job by writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley and directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a solid film with equal parts adrenaline and emotion that raises the bar for comic book movies as Marvel Studios works toward The Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015. Last week Marvel announced that Captain America 3 will be slated for May 6, 2016, the same weekend as Zack Snyder’s Superman/Batman film. We’ll see who blinks.

Happy birthday to Jack “King” Kirby on what would have been his 96th birthday.

My first exposure to Jack Kirby’s work was back in the 70’s in the Italian language reprints of his Silver Age work on The Fantastic Four and the Eternals. These reprints were published in Italy about 10 years after their initial U.S. publication, but they were new to me and I was hooked. I’ve been a fan of his work ever since, and I’m truly grateful for the iconic characters he created and co-created over the course of his career.

When I started the Captain America Project in 2010, I knew the page would not be complete without a sketch by Michael Zeck. His run on Captain America in the early 80’s was my favorite of the title and stood out with his bold artwork and amazing covers. He rarely made convention appearances so I wasn’t sure the opportunity would come up for a sketch, but I always kept a space open on the page “just in case. ” Back in June I had the honor of meeting him at Wizard World in New York and he drew this fantastic Cap sketch for me at the show.

A big thanks to Michael and also to Renee Witterstaetter of Eva Ink Artist Group for the opportunity to add this Captain America sketch to the page.

I’ve met Joe Sinnott on several occasions at the New York comic book conventions over the last several years. Each meeting has always been a pleasure and honor to chat with one of the legends of Marvel Comics. The highlights of his career are too numerous to list, as he’s inked every major artist for Marvel/Timely over the last 60 years. Needless to say, a Captain America sketch from Joe was a must have!

When I started the Captain America Project in 2010, I never expected to meet or obtain a sketch from a Golden Age comic book artist that actually drew Captain America during World War II. But last March when I read that Allen Bellman would be attending Mike Carbo’s New York Comic Book Expo, I had to meet him. Before I could even ask if he was sketching, he saw my Captain America jam page and quickly grabbed a pencil to draw a classic style Cap for me.

#14: George Perez (The Avengers, The New Teen Titans, Crisis On Infinite Earths)

Next up in the Captain America project is this sketch by the great George Perez. I obtained this sketch at Megacon in Orlando back in 2011. George was raffling off sketches for donations to the Hero Initiative and I was fortunate enough to win this addition to my Captain America jam page. I’ve been a fan of his since his work on The Avengers and he was on my “must have” list when I started The Captain America Project in 2010. This sketch is a classic version of the Captain America I was introduced to back in the 70’s.

I wrapped up an incredible haul from 2010’s Big Apple Con and New York Comic Con with this amazing Captain America sketch from the great Jim Lee. I uploaded a larger than usual image to show the texture and shading from the exposed pencil lines bringing out a darker mood in Cap’s expression. This is an amazing sketch.